The Hitch on the Finger Armor

Ok...so here's the deal....the release of my tutorial is on hold.

Why? You ask.

Yes, it's ready to go and I got up to find a note telling me I have infringed someone's copyright....and now a threat to sue me.

Now this is a story that goes back two plus years.

When I first started beading I frequented a beading forum and there was a loomer/beader who posted a picture of a very pretty (but for me overly feminine) two section ring. It triggered a memory for me of a design I'd done a few years earlier when I was heavily into chain maille.   Being a kind of fiesty, costuming gal I was interested in jewelry based on armor just as I had made clothes out of chain maille.  And I had designed some finger armor based on gauntlets.

And something else that I had come across in my foray into armor...the arm wraps....look familiar?

So....as you can see...my research led me to seeing that a hinge was needed to create the design I had in mind. I didn't get past the design stage and in all honesty I wasn't bead weaving at the time so hadn't thought of doing them in a technique I didn't know existed.  And it wasn't till seeing this gal do something with the basic idea in bead weaving that my memory was triggered.  I dug out my old design sketch book....and I had even drawn up a pattern for the finger armor. I got to work translating my original pattern into beadwork and posted my pictures in the forum.

She had a problem. Even though, as everyone said, mine looked completely different, different style, different look.  This gal said she was patenting all bead woven rings that covered more than one section of the finger....and then asked me how I hinged mine, because it looked different from her technique and she'd like to include MY technique in HER patent!!!!!  WTF?

Anyway, it was a huge thing on the forum with most people feeling she couldn't create a patent like that....that it would be like trying to own the rights to fabric arm coverage...sleeves.  A few legal people wrote me in support telling me to go forward....but I didn't push it.  

Since then....multiple jointed rings have really come to be quite common with Beyonce's hand jewelry being right up their in the lead.  Notice those hinged joints :)

And here are just a few of the armor inspired multiple section rings out there.

Now....what about bead weaving, you say?

Well....in the years since this all started I've seen a few people do multiple joint coverage with bead weaving...I know Cynthia Newcomer Daniel, who I actually met through all of this, did a combination bracelet and full finger coverage piece. Recently Sabine Lippert did a beautiful multiple joint ring.

But apparently I'm the only one being sued.

So....sorry folks I cannot release the tutorial today.

But.....I am thinking that I might release a couple of ring tutorials and maybe a tutorial on creating hinges in beadwork :)